Third consecutive World Cup for the green and gold

Australia moved within one win of a place at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil after a commanding 4-0 defeat of Jordan in Group A of the Asian qualifying section. Here's how it went down in terms of scoring: veteran midfielder Mark Bresciano opened the scoring after 15 minutes in Melbourne before New York Red Bulls' Tim Cahill doubled Australia's lead with a header just past the hour mark. Winger Robbie Kruse, who recently joined Bayer Leverkusen, made it 3-0 with a fine solo effort, with captain Lucas Neill grabbing his first ever international goal to seal the rout. Good on them, as long as they don't bowl underarm in the process. But enough about that because there's been some nastiness going on. It's called "Apple picking," a growing wave of crime in which thieves target mobile devices, particularly iPhones and iPads. Now the company that gave the crime its name is taking a step to stop it, with a "kill switch"-style update aimed at making the mobile gadgets less valuable to thieves. Activation Lock will be part of iOS 7, the latest version of Apple's mobile operating system expected to roll out in the fall. The feature will require an Apple ID and password before the phone's "Find My iPhone" feature can be turned off or any data can be erased. At a keynote address opening its annual Worldwide Developers Conference, the company said the same ID and password will be needed to reactivate a device after it's been remotely erased. Also set for erasure is some of the royalties that Pandora have been paying to music publishers. The company is making a bold move in an attempt to lower those fees: It's buying a terrestrial radio station in South Dakota mainly to score lower rates. The radio station buy is the latest salvo in Pandora's ongoing legal fight with the performance-rights group American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP). Pandora says ASCAP discriminates against the company by charging it higher royalty rates, as well as letting publishers pull their song catalogs from Pandora while keeping them available for competitors.